Morin described the item and its location at length.

From what I could gather the object I was to steal was some sort of chalice stored in the vaults of the Power, Paya. The Power, it seemed, had only recently risen to the deity ranks—recent being relative of course—and was yet only a low-ranked member of the Awakened Dead faction.

When Morin was done, a Game message flashed through my mind.

Loken has allocated you a new task: Heist in the Dark! The Power has tasked you with stealing an artifact from another Power. In exchange, he has promised to remove the tracking spell he has laid on you. Objective one: Steal the mysterious chalice from the Power Paya, a member of the Awakened Dead. Optional objective: Carry out the theft undetected.

Thankfully, Loken had not put a time limit on his task. It would leave me plenty of time to prepare. I read the message again, and after I was certain I understood its entirety, I refocused my gaze outwards and upon my three companions. “Well, I guess this is goodbye again.”

“Already?” Bornholm asked. “Don’t you want to—”

Morin laid a hand on the dwarf, silencing him. She turned back to me. “I’m sorry that things have turned out the way they have.” She fell silent for a moment. “But if there is anything we can do to assist—and doesn't impinge on our sworn duty—don’t hesitate to contact us.”

“If you need us, we’ll come,” Bornholm interjected. “We owe you that much.”

“Thank you,” I said gravely to the pair. “Where can I find you?”

“We are billeted in the Shadow Keep,” Tantor said. “It’s in the Shadow quarter. You won’t be able to get there yourself, but if you send a messenger, we will come.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything else.

After another awkward moment of silence, when it became clear I wasn’t going to leave or add anything further, the three stood uncomfortably. We shook hands, and they departed, taking the cone of silence Tantor had woven with them.

As the noise and rowdiness of the tavern rushed back in, I closed my eyes. Resting my head against the table, I contemplated the trio’s revelations and what it meant for me.

More problems, that’s what.

In a sudden burst of anger, I raised my head and summoned a waiter. Before I did anything else, I needed a drink.

~~~

I didn’t stop at just one drink. I kept going.

Despite fleeing the netherworld and the valley, it seemed I had not managed to escape the clutches of the Powers and their bloody games. I had intended on maintaining a low profile while in Nexus. As large and as populous as the sector was, I expected that eventually I could lose myself within its depths, and work slowly toward fulfilling my wolf heritage unseen.

Loken’s task put all that in jeopardy.

If I took on the Shadow Power’s mission, I would once again be thrown into the limelight. Even if I pulled off the theft flawlessly, I could not count on my identity remaining secret. For one Loken would know who had done it, and what little trust I had in the Power, had vanished. If it suited his ends, I was sure he would reveal my identity and entangle me further in his plots.

No, I am well and truly stuffed.

If I could help it, I wouldn’t go anywhere near Paya and her mysterious chalice. But one hundred thousand gold was a ridiculous sum to pay for removing Loken’s spell, and unless I found another means of freeing myself from his surveillance, I had to do as he wished.

“Goddamn Powers,” I muttered, and downed another drink. The alcohol would do nothing to solve my problems, but it would allow me to escape them for a time at least.

~~~

It was dusk when I finally rose unsteadily from my seat. I’d had far too much to drink, but bloody hell, it felt good. Swinging around, I surveyed the bar. If anything, it was more crowded than earlier—past time to leave.

Slapping down some coins to pay for my bill, I stumbled out the door. The fresh night air whipped against my face as I stepped into the streets of the plague quarter.

I hadn’t spent much time examining the quarter earlier, and in my less than sober state, I didn’t manage to take in much of the surroundings now either. But the one thing was immediately clear: the plague quarter possessed nothing of the richness of the safe zone.

Where to now? I wondered hazily.

Even through my mental fog, I knew it to be foolish to sleep in the quarter. Back to the safe zone, and the hotel the bard had mentioned. Damn the cost. I just needed somewhere safe to sleep off my hangover.

I staggered into the street and turned left. From what I remembered of my journey outwards it was only a few dozen yards to the south gate.

I can manage that.

There was a definite hitch to my step as I headed towards my destination, and I stumbled more than once. God, I’m a mess.

And I was not the only one who thought so.

Despite my inebriated state, I was not totally oblivious of my surroundings, and so didn’t fail to catch the loud whispers at my rear.

“... this should be easy.”

“What do I keep telling you idiots? Never underestimate a mark!”

“He’s drunk!” scoffed the first voice.

“Alone too,” another added.

“And below rank ten,” a third chipped in.

“Easy pickings,” a fourth concluded with unmistakable glee.

“Just don’t take any chances,” cautioned the fifth, and seemingly the sole voice of reason in the group.

The speakers sounded close. Too close. My would-be muggers had gone undetected far longer than they should have. Through half-lidded eyes, I studied the road ahead. On my left was a dark alley, and up head, the south gate was in sight.

If I hurried, I could probably escape my pursuers.

But escape was the last thing on my mind.

Perhaps it was the drink, still sitting heavy in my stomach, but suddenly I felt in dire need of a good clean fight, and damn the odds.

You picked the wrong mark tonight, boys.

Swaying left, I headed towards the alley.

~~~

The moment I entered the back street’s dark depths, I was swallowed by the shadows.

Five hostile entities have failed to detect you! You are hidden.

“Where’d he go?” a voice whispered, sounding confused.

“Quiet!” hissed another.

I headed deeper into the narrow street. Up ahead, I saw that it ended abruptly. Dead end. There were no doors exiting the buildings to my left and right, but nearly ten yards above me was a narrow ledge, and even drunk, I thought I could manage the climb. Setting my hands to the wall, I scaled it, if less nimbly than I was used to.

Halfway up the wall, I made my first mistake, and a loose stone fell free.

“You hear that?”

“What?”

“I heard something too.”

“He’s hiding. The noob must have spotted us!”

“There’s no escape from here. We’ve got him boxed in.”

“Enough chatter. Draw your weapons and ready your spells.”

I pulled myself up onto the ledge without further mishap. It was barely wide enough to hold me. With my feet spread apart and my hands lowered to balance, I perched on the stone like some avian predator and glared down at my prey.

They had entered the alley two abreast, and the first pair was almost beneath me. I drew ebonheart and spider’s bite.

Then dropped like a stone.

My timing was off. Instead of landing lightly behind my first target like I planned, I crashed squarely atop one of the players in the second row.

You have crippled Lexion. You are no longer hidden.

In hindsight, I would’ve been better off using shadow blink, charm, astral blade, or any one of the many abilities available to me, but made overconfident by drink, I’d stupidly believed them unnecessary.

Cursing foully, I rolled free of the moaning body beneath me and struck out blindly with both my blades.

You have injured Rex. You have critically injured Malik.

“Get him!”

“He’s killed Rex!”

“No, I’m alive, you idiot,” Rex swore.

Lightning crackled into existence, and more by instinct than anything else, I ducked and rolled, away from the group, and deeper into the alley.

You have evaded Gatar’s magical projectiles.

I was sobering up fast, and the reality of my predicament was quickly catching up with me. Stupidly, I’d not even thought to analyze my foes. It was too late to back out from the fight now, though.

“He’s running. After him!”

“Hez, tend to Lexion and Malik. Gatar let’s go get him,” Rex ordered.

Two sets of footsteps rushed towards me. I unfurled my mindsight, and waited for a heartbeat, then shadow blinked.

You have cast shadow blink and teleported yourself into Hez’s shadow.

I plunged both my blades forward and met hardened chainmail.

Hez’s armor has blocked your attack.

My foe swung around, flail whipping through the air. I ducked under the blow, and dropping spider’s bite, summoned an astral blade.

“Rex, he’s—”

My hand flew forward to bury the psi dagger into Hez’s chest. His armor proved no hindrance, and for a second the player’s eyes widened, as the nerves in his chest deadened. Unfortunately, it was not enough to kill him.

Hez’s weapon jerked into motion towards me again. I swayed out of the way and slapped him across the face.

Hez has passed a physical resistance check! You have failed to stun your target.

From further in the alley, I sensed Rex and Gatar spin around. Lexion appeared out of the fight, but Malik was fumbling with something in his hands. A heartbeat later I recognized it. It was a potion.

Hez began to back away, and I let him, intent on Malik. It proved a mistake. Hez’s weapon pulsed ominously once, and three tentacles of light expanded outwards from his flail to wrap fast around me.

Hez has cast whip of the divine. You have failed a magical resistance check.

A whip of the divine has injured you!

A whip of the divine has injured you!

A whip of the divine has injured you!

I convulsed, limbs jerking erratically as waves of charge roiled through me from the three whips of light winding tighter around me.

“Got him!” Hez exclaimed.

“Good work,” Rex said, striding forward to join him. “Now tend to the others...”

“I can’t,” Hez said. “If I stop channeling the spell, the whips will release him.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Rex said, sounding supremely confident. “We’ve got him.”

I was completely sober now.

The pain wracking my body and surging adrenaline had washed away the last of the alcohol’s ill-effects. I had made a real hash of the fight, and I knew I was in trouble. Second by second my health plummeted as I sustained ongoing damage.

Whatever the spell Hez had cast, it was not an entanglement one. I was being held motionless not by the spell, but by the waves of pain it sent coursing through my body.

Mustering the shreds of my concentration, I studied the four players arrayed around me. Rex, Malik—fully recovered—and Gatar held weapons at the ready, waiting for my bindings to drop. For whatever reason they hesitated to strike while I was still wrapped in the coils of surging current.

The first whip of lightning uncoiled from around me.

I had to act quickly. My gaze jerked to Hez. He was muttering under his breath. Undoing his spell? I thought so.

I flung open my mindsight, and targeting the group’s leader, cast slaysight.

Strands of psi expanded outwards from me to delve into Rex’s consciousness. In a heartbeat, I found the nerve centers responsible for his sight, and distorted them, erasing my own presence from his sight.

You have cast simple slaysight. Rex has failed a mental resistance check! You have successfully hidden yourself from Rex! Warning: taking hostile action against your target will dispel the spell’s effect.

“Where do you go?” Rex asked, sounding puzzled.

“What do you mean?” Gatar asked. “He is right in front of you.”

“I see him too,” Malik agreed.

Rex’s voice rose an octave. “I can’t!”

I smiled in satisfaction. That’s a wonderful ability, I thought.

The second electric coil had unwrapped itself from me. Not waiting for the players to figure out what was going on, I shadow blinked.

You have teleported yourself into Malik’s shadow.

Of the four players still standing, Malik was the one most poorly armored. Darting forward, I plunged ebonheart through the player’s back.

This time I did not foul the blow. Death was instant.

You have killed Malik.

“He’s escaped!” Hez said, lamenting the obvious.

Gatar lunged at me, while the bespelled Rex spun about, striking blindly at nothing. I jumped backwards, out of range of the assaults, and faded into the shadows.

You have evaded Gatar’s attacks. Three hostile entities have failed to detect you. You are hidden once more.

Ignoring the players’ confused shouts, I delayed only long enough in the shadows to ready myself, then shadow blinked behind Hez. Ebonheart and spider’s bite flew forward, one empowered by piercing strike, and the other by crippling blow.

This time the cleric’s armor failed to stop my blades.

Hez’s armor has failed to block your attacks.

You have backstabbed your target for 100% more damage. You have crippled your target’s right arm.

The cleric reeled under the twin blows. Not letting up, I struck at him again and landed another devastating combination.

You have killed Hez.

Two down, one injured, two left.

A blur of motion caught my attention, and without hesitation, I threw myself forward and out of the way.

You have dodged Gatar’s charge.

I kept rolling until I was in the shadows once more. Wrapping myself in darkness, I summoned psi for another casting.

“Gatar, talk to me!” Rex demanded. “Where is he?”

“I don't know,” Gatar ground out in frustration. “He’s killed—”

Gatar has failed a mental resistance check! You have charmed your target for 10 seconds.

“Gatar?” Rex asked.

Tight-lipped, my bespelled minion strode towards the gang leader.

Your slaysight has dissipated.

The spell’s end mattered little as I was hidden. Gatar reached Rex and hefted his broadsword.

“Gatar, what are—?” Rex began.

He didn’t get to finish. Thrusting his weapon forward, my minion ran his former companion through.

Gatar has critically injured Rex.

I’d been poised on the balls of my feet, waiting. At the arrival of the Game’s message, I blinked forward and into the fray again.

It was time to end this.